Chapter 21.3 (1/2)
Together Forever (至此终年) — Final Chapter Part 3 of 5
June 22, 2016 by hoju 3 Comments
This one hurt my heart to translate.
Final Chapter (3)
This particular project was unexpectedly problematic.
After Gu Pingsheng had arranged last-minute to switch around his cla.s.s schedule for all the cla.s.ses that he taught, he had only had time to return home to grab his luggage before hastening to the airport. Of course, even amid all this hurrying around, he still made a visit to the hospital. For so many years, his elderly grandfather had been tormented by sickness, and even after his liver transplant, he needed to take anti-rejection medications for the rest of his life. Hence, one could certainly imagine both the physical and psychological pressure that weighed on him.
During Gu Pingsheng’s visit this time, however, the elderly man for once actually showed some smiles on his face. With tones of self-mocking as well as pangs of heartache for him, Grandfather uttered, “Both of us, grandfather and grandson, can be considered to have the worst health in the family.” Seeing him dressed in his suit and carrying a suitcase, the elderly man could deduce his upcoming plans. “Business trip?”
Gu Pingsheng set his suitcase down beside the bed and took a seat on the chair. “There’s a last-minute need for me to go to London. I will be back in about ten days.”
This grandfather and grandson pair seemed to both have words to say, but as they looked at one another, both smiled and neither of them spoke first.
He did not have the time to stay too long, and as he was about to leave, he suddenly stated, “Last time, there wasn’t the chance for the two of you to meet. This time when I come back from London, I will bring her to formally see you.”
Possibly because he was physically feeling quite well today, the elderly man, surprisingly, was not very much opposed to this.
“That student of yours is graduating this year? Have the two of you considered where would be a suitable workplace for her?”
“She just completed her interns.h.i.+p term.” Once Gu Pingsheng finished saying this, he quickly added in a joking tone, “But her grades are just average. A lot lower than mine. If she wants to find a good, suitable job, she’s going to need to put in a bit of effort.”
The elderly man laughed with amus.e.m.e.nt. “Oh, you … Vain. Still so vain. You’ve never been humble.”
During this project in London, he unexpectedly ran into an old cla.s.smate. The two of them were on opposing camps, and in the meeting room during the daytime, they would contest over every word, as if each one was worth gold. Although the two of them were old friends, due to this project, there was not much private social interaction between them. It was only after the true legal negotiations were complete that they learned they were both staying in the same hotel.
The coincidental encounter occurred in the hotel’s elevator lobby.
“TK.” The beautiful blonde woman beside his old cla.s.smate gave him a warm hug, and with non-fluent Chinese, she asked in delighted surprise, “How are you? Are you doing well nowadays?”
“Extremely well.” Gu Pingsheng’s answer was given in Chinese as well as he patted her briefly on the back in a platonic gesture.
That old cla.s.smate did not understand the greetings they had exchanged and, when they released each other, only grinned and joked that now that two old flames had seen one another, he, the new flame, had no importance at all.
Amid the nonstop jesting and teasing, there were people getting into the elevators as well as people getting off with hurried steps. Only when he heard them talk about their child did Gu Pingsheng at last, somewhat after-the-fact, ask in pleasant surprise, “Since when?”
“Last year. Last year at this time.” The beautiful woman made an expression of marvel on her face. “The kid is just too adorable. I’m even thinking I want to get married. If we have another kid, we will get married.”
Gu Pingsheng once again gave her another hug and offered his extremely sincere well wishes to them.
If it would have been possible, he very much wanted to leave London immediately.
To return home to see his own little girl.
These last several days, she had communicated distractedly with him. It seemed something might be wrong.
Ten days. One week plus three days.
On the seventh day, Tong Yan suddenly called Shen Yao. “Are you still in Beijing? I want to go to the amus.e.m.e.nt park today. How about I treat you to some fun at Beijing Amus.e.m.e.nt Park?”
The sounds coming from the other end of the phone line were noisy and seemed to echo in an open s.p.a.ce. In a very loud voice, Shen Yao threw out a cuss of “Sh*t!” and said, “I just arrived at Beijijng Capital [International Airport], and I’m flying out in an hour. You did it on purpose, didn’t you?”
“Leave one day later, how about that?” She sat on the couch, her voice for once softening.
Shen Yao remained silent for several seconds but then let out another curse of “Sh*t!” and told her, “Tell me the address. I’ll see you in an hour … Wait, no. Wait at home for me. I need to leave my luggage at your home.”
As she stood outside the amus.e.m.e.nt park, Shen Yao began to immerse herself into character, examining with seriousness how they could reasonably use their time to go to all the attractions that they wished to see. She even took a pen and carefully drew out a route on the map, circling the key attractions that they wanted to go to.
Tong Yan was somewhat preoccupied.
“I’m telling you Tong Yan, if it weren’t for the fact that I’m going to be leaving the country right away and won’t be back in the short term, I would have ignored this type of unreasonable request from you. You’re really treating me like I’m your boyfriend, eh? I was at the airport already, and I ended up being called back by you, just like that …” Biting on the end of the pen, she suddenly lifted her head and stared musingly at her. “What terrible thing has happened?”
Tong Yan’s hand held down her sun hat, its wide brim concealing more than half her face.
“You broke up?” Shen Yao sighed, “Women are the strongest creatures, but once they they break up with their love, it’s like an injury straight to their very sinew and bone.”
“You’re talking as if I’ve never been in a break-up before.” She strolled forward unhurriedly.
Shen Yao thought for a moment. “I’ll tell you something, but you can’t get mad. Prior to Gu Pingsheng, I’d never seen you with a boyfriend when we were in school. So, before I came, I gave my man a call because I wanted to know what exactly you were like when you broke up with the one you loved. That way, I could at least prepare ways to respond and counteract.” Extending her arm, she draped it around Tong Yan’s shoulders. “To be honest, my man has never said anything good about you. His views about you are truly on the extreme end, but for this particular matter alone, he said you are more of a man than a real man.”
Tong Yan still remained unspeaking.
“Not a single tear shed. Your ex-boyfriend, on the other hand, cried like crazy… Tong Yan Wuji, you are truly callous.”
Shen Yao’s tone was light as she teasingly mocked her, but when she saw Tong Yan turn to look toward her, she completely froze.
Where was this callousness that was spoken of?
Tong Yan’s gaze was dull as it fixed on her. Though her eyes clearly were red, no tears were found in them.
Shen Yao had never seen her like this before and, like a silly fool, only knew to hug her. “What is it that’s wrong? Teacher Gu’s about to die? That can’t be it. The last time I saw him, he was still so handsomely attractive it was tragic to the world, and he looked absurdly healthy …”
As Shen Yao spoke, she worriedly touched Tong Yan’s eye.
Dry. She truly was not crying.
But this was more alarming than if she was crying.
Tong Yan shoved her hand away. “Get lost. Don’t you go cursing him!”